Nurse – Immigrant – Consular Processing

Definitions

"Applicant" is you

"Application" is the Application for Immigrant Visa

Consular Processing – Immigrant

If you are not otherwise eligible to file an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status or are outside the United States you will apply for an immigrant visa at a United States embassy or consulate. This process requires that a visa number be immediately available to you. If the priority date established for the approved Petition for Immigrant Worker is current then a visa is immediately available.

Immediately Available Immigrant Visa

Congress has set a numerical limitation of 140,000 foreign nationals that may immigrate to the United States based upon employment during a fiscal year. Typically, there is a greater demand for immigrant visas than are available during a fiscal year. As such, the Department of State Visa Office maintains a waiting list of foreign nationals who wish to immigrate to the United States. Your place on the waiting list is determined by your priority date. On a monthly basis the Department of State Visa Office publishes a bulletin that designates a cut-off date for processing of immigrant visas in each preference category. If your priority date is earlier than the cut-off date established by the Department of State Visa Office for the third preference category then an immigrant visa is immediately. Please note that in some preference categories there is less of a demand for immigrant visas than are available. In this case the Department of State Visa Office will designate the category as "current". This means that an immigrant visa is immediately available.

Department of State Visa Office Bulletin

The Department of State Visa Bulletin is updated monthly. For the Visa Bulletin priority dates click here.

Priority Date

The priority date is the date on which the Petition for Immigrant Worker is filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

National Visa Center

The Immigration and Naturalization Service will forward the approved Petition for Immigrant Worker to the National Visa Center. The National Visa Center is charged with facilitating the preliminary steps associated with applying for an immigrant visa. Once the priority date is current and an immigrant visa is immediately available the National Visa Center will forward Packet 3 to you. Packet 3 serves to notify you of the documents and information required before an immigrant visa interview will be scheduled by the United States embassy or consulate. Packet 3 also contains forms that you must complete. After the National Visa Center has forwarded Packet 3 to you it will send the approved Petition for final processing to the United States embassy or consulate designated on the Petition.

Credentialing Required for United States Embassy or Consulate Processing

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 amended Immigration and Nationality Act Section 212(a)(5)(C) to state that, a foreign nurse seeking to enter the United States as a permanent resident is excludable unless s/he presents to the consular officer a certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), or, a certificate from an equivalent independent credentialing organization approved by the Attorney General, verifying that her/his education, training, license and experience meet all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for entry into the United States as a nurse; are comparable with that required for an American nurse; and are authentic and, in the case of a license, unencumbered. Further, the foreign nurse has the level of competence in oral and written English to be appropriate for a nurse as shown by an appropriate score on a nationally recognized, commercially available, standardized assessment of the foreign nurse’s ability to speak and write; and if a majority of the States licensing the nursing profession in which the foreign nurse intends to work recognize a test predicting the success on the nurse licensing or certification examination, the foreign nurse has passed such a test or has passed such an examination.

As noted, CGFNS is recognized in the legislation as an organization that may grant a certificate that satisfies the requirements of Immigration and Nationality Act Section 212(a)(5)(C). As such, CGFNS created a new division, the International Commission on Healthcare Professions (ICHP), which developed the VisaScreen^TM program. The VisaScreen^TM program verifies that your education, training, license and experience meet all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements for entry into the United States as a nurse and are comparable with that required for an American nurse; are authentic and, in the case of a license, unencumbered. The VisaScreen^TM program verifies that you have an adequate level of competence in oral and written English. In order to demonstrate your competency of oral and written English you must pass EITHER the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ) and Test of Written English (TWE) and Test of Spoken English (TSE); OR the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) examinations (parts 1-3) and the speaking test. Please note that if your native language is English; you received your education in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom and the language of instruction was English; and the language of the textbooks used was English you may not be required to pass an English proficiency examination. Finally, the VisaScreen^TM program verifies that you have received either a CGFNS Certificate or passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN® examination). Please note that the majority of states require that you receive a CGFNS Certificate before sitting for the NCLEX-RN® examination.

Once the VisaScreen^TM program has verified that you have met all requirements you are granted a VisaScreen^TM Certificate that is presented to a consular officer at the time of the immigrant visa application.

Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS)

The CGFNS has developed a program that consists of three parts including a review of your education, training, license and experience; an exam that will ensure that you have the level of competence in oral and written English that is considered appropriate for a nurse; and the CGFNS Qualifying Exam. The CGFNS uses the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to ensure that you have met the English language proficiency requirement. Please note that if your native language is English; you received your nursing education in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom and the language of instruction was English; and the language of the textbooks used was English you may not be required to pass the TOEFL examination. Upon successful completion of all three elements of the program, you will be granted a CGFNS Certificate.

National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing developed the NCLEX, which was designed to ensure that you will be a safe practicing nurse. In order for you to be licensed to practice in any state in the United States s/he must take and pass the NCLEX.

United States Embassy or Consulate Processing

Once you have completed the forms in Packet 3 and assembled the required documents you will notify the United States embassy or consulate designated in the Petition using a form provided with Packet 3. Once notified the United States embassy or consulate will forward a Packet 4 to you. Packet 4 provides the you with the immigrant visa interview appointment letter; supplemental information concerning the appointment; information concerning the medical appointment; a medical history form; an Internal Revenue Service form; and an immigrant visa application.

Once the United States Embassy or Consulate approves the immigrant visa the Consul will place a machine-readable visa in your passport allowing you to apply for admission to the United States.

Embassy/Consular Processing Time

The processing time for an immigrant visa depends upon the policy of each United States embassy or consulate. Please contact the United States embassy or consulate in your native country for specific time lines.

Dependents

Your spouse and any minor child (less than twenty-one years of age) are eligible for immigrant visas. A separate Petition is not required. However, a separate Immigrant Visa Application is required for each dependent.